Aftermath (A sort of season 2 and a half)
by jpoeling
Summary: After the events of Season 2 what new threats plague the members of YJ? Wrapping up dangling cliffhangers, and adding a few stories of my own. At time may tend to focus more on M'Gann/Conner than other characters.
1. Chapter 1

As Conner stared into the endless expanse of space in front of him, many thoughts were rolling around in his head. Thoughts about the team's big victory over The Reach and The Light, the sadness at the thought of never hearing Wally make another one of his immature jokes, whether he could ever trust Aqualad or Nightwing ever again, etc. All these things pulling Conner's attention in his mind, but one thought above the others kept racing to the forefront.

At the thought, he unfixed his gaze from the stars in front of him and glanced back at who was piloting the bio-ship. Slightly raised above him sat the woman who was the main fixture of his thoughts at the moment. He knew they were on a mission to rescue Mars from the Reach, but he doubted anybody could stay focused on such a long voyage. As fast as the bio-ship was they were only into the sixth hour of their ten hour voyage. Conner swore when they got to Mars every Reach soldier he met was going to feel his wrath for cutting of access to the zeta tubes.

Right before they were assigned to Alpha squad and given their mission, he and M'gann were close to picking up where they left all those months ago. In the memorial sanctuary they were very close to kissing one another, but duty intervened. Conner knew they still had problems to work out, but after what they both went through recently he didn't think that would be problem. They had already talked things over, both the night after she fought Aqualad and earlier that day in the courtroom on Rimbor.

"Guess we never go to finish our talk earlier," M'gann said breaking Conner out of his reveries.

Conner gave a partial smile and slightly blushed knowing he got caught staring at her. He turned his chair fully to face her and noticed they were alone, "Where's Garfield?"

"He went down below and had the ship bio-shift a cot for him. Guess all the excitement of the past 48 hours got to him," M'gann said thoughtfully.

Slightly confused Conner wondered how he missed the exit of his green monkey teammate, and guessed he really had been deep in his own thoughts. "About earlier," Conner began slowly.

At his slow words M'gann fidgeted a little, "Its' alright if you don't want to talk about this, or wait until after the mission... or you want to forget about earlier." M'gann added the last part with fearful apprehension and shifted her eyes downward dejectedly.

"What? No!," Conner said hurriedly and stood up quickly, his bio-seatbelt retracting at his movement.

M'gann looked up startled but slightly hopeful at his quick movement.

Conner rubbed his jaw a little embarrassed at his reaction as well, "This is just a little awkward... what I mean is how does this work?" Conner said a little unsure of himself.

M'Gann momentarily focused on the controls and telepathically told the ship to maintain course. She stood and stepped down and stood in front of Conner, about a foot separated them.

"You mean how do we start over?" M'Gann asked in a soft voice and Conner gave a small nod in confirmation.

"Well we don't actually," M'gann started and then saw the surprise in Conner's eyes and quickly added, "start over that is, we start back up."

Conner thought for a second before speaking but maintained eye contact, "What's the difference?"

M'gann looked down and turned foot back and forth before looking back at the Kryptonian in front of her, "Well we... I mean I don't forget what broke us up in the first place."

"M'gann you don't," Conner.

"I know I have already admitted you were right about the use of my powers," M'gann said and reached out and took hold of Conner's hand, "but it is something I need to remember if were going to get back what we once had."

Conner nodded in finally understanding, "M'gann you aren't the only one to blame here..."

"What?" M'gann began startled, "Conner you never did anything wrong, it was me abusing my powers on the enemy... and you."

Conner lightly traced circles on the soft skin of the left hand that was trapped in right, "Trying to control me was wrong, but I should've tried to work it out with you instead of just ending things."

"I would not have listened even if you tried," M'gann admitted, "You were right to leave me, but we can move forward."

Conner stood there for a few seconds and smirk tugged at his lips, "You never answered how we start back up."

M'gann thought for a second and let a blush come over her, "I guess how we started things the fir..."

Figuring out what she was going to say Conner crashed his lips down upon M'gann's. Conner than moved one of his hands to the small of her back and pushed her forward to close the distance between them, and held her close.

They stood there and continued exploring mouths and feeling they had been missing since all the months ago. The only sounds in the that were made was low hum as the living ship continued to cruise forward into the dark depths of the space, and the sounds of the reunited lovers made as they continued to passionately embrace.

-YJ-

Gar opened his eyes and sat up groggily. Rubbing his eyes and moving around his tail, Gar remembered he was on his sister's ship. Upon remembering why he was there Beastboy, smiled with giddiness. Him, M'gann, and Conner were on the same team, and they were Alpha squad.

Sure he had heard Nightwing's speech a hundred times on how they were just team names, but Beastboy knew better. Who could argue Alpha team was the best when two of the members had been two of the longest active members, and he was also one of the teams heaviest hitters.

Almost everything was going right in his world, Garfield thought. Well except for one thing, that thing being his sister and Conner being on the same squad but not together. He never knew why they broke up in the first place, neither would tell him why. However he could feel the winds of change coming, his sister had finally flushed fishboy, and he could tell Conner and M'Gann were acting much better towards one another.

"_All they really need is a little help," _thought the green monkey shapeshifter. Garfield began to work out plans in his mind as he started up the ramp to the main level of the ship, but stopped right in his tracks as he saw into the cabin.

His jaw nearly fell and hit the floor when he saw it, his sister and Conner making out in the middle of the ship. The scene made Gar want to jump up and down and scream for joy, which made nothing short of a miracle he was able to contain himself.

Backing up slowly and as quietly as possible, Garfield made his way back to the lower level. He could stand a few more hours rest before the mission.

A/N: Hey this is my first YJ fic. Like the rest of you I am not too happy about the cancellation. So to keep the memory of the show going I thought I would try to write. This is not meant to be a one-shot but I thought after the ending of the final episode it looked like M'Gann and conner were going to get back together sooner rather than later.

I have multiple ideas to keep this fic going. This fic may tend to be heavier focused on Alpha squad, but I plan to write chapters with other characters as well.

Reviews are welcome and appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

In the hanger of the bio-ship, an abnormally large green wolf impatiently paced back and forth, occasionally turning his muzzle up to the cockpit of the ship. A few more hours had passed and he knew they had to be getting close to their destination, and the isolation was starting to get to him. Sittng still and being quiet were not qualities he was known for. He had decided he wanted to know what was going on up there between his sister and Superboy, but decided it was against his own self interest to interrupt them.

He figured going up there and looking in on them was too risky, so he decided the next best thing was to turn into an animal with exceptional hearing. Garfield remembered the first time he encountered the large white wolf that belonged to Superboy, it was the day they had brought him to live at Mount Justice.

_A week had passed since his mother's funeral, and it had been decided that he was going to live with his blood-sister and her team. There had been a few things that had to be taken care of before they left; packing up all of his and his mother's possessions, waiting for one of his mother's colleagues to come and take over running the animal preserve, and probably the most tedious thing being his adoption paperwork._

_While he and his mother thought of Megan as family, no formal documentation made it official.. So Megan had to go through the Qurac government to take responsibility of him. Even though she and Conner knew President Rumann Harjarvati personally it had taken awhile to make everything legal._

_Garfield snapped out of his thoughts as he saw that the ship was heading directly for a mountain, he was about to say something to Megan when he saw her eyes turn green. Looking back at the mountain he saw opening appear in the mountain, and despite feeling still sad over his loss he couldn't help but think how cool that was._

_As he watched the ship glide into the opening and set down, he found himself getting really excited to see his new home. As soon as his sister had opened up the hatch, he raced out to see his new surroundings._

_Stopping right outside the ship he looked back to see his sister levitating several of his bags, and Superboy coming out behind her carrying just as many._

"_That was so cool," he exclaimed._

_Megan smiled, happy to see him finally think about something good for the first time in awhile._

_At that moment Garfield turned around to see a large white wolf bounding towards them and stopping right in front of him. Seemingly the animal needed to sniff and check out this new intruder, not ever seeing him before._

_Superboy set down the bags he was carrying and walked over to his large companion. "It's alright Wolf," Superboy said and patted him on the head._

"_Awesome you have a dog?" Garfield asked excitedly and also touched Wolf on the head._

"_He's not a dog..." Superboy began looking at Garfield but stopped as he saw Garfield start to change._

_Standing in front of Superboy and Wolf now stood an exact replica of team's animal companion, except this new Wolf was green._

_The bags M'gann was levitating immediately dropped as her concentration broke, and her jaw fell open._

"_M'gann?" Superboy said looking between the new green Wolf and his girlfriend for answers._

"_Garfield..." was all Megan could think to say. Just as shocked to see what she was witnessing._

_The green wolf that was Garfield started to sniff the white original one, and vice versa._

_Wolf looked wide-eyed at the imposter and sniffed a few seconds before growling._

_As the event was unfolding the rest of the team had walked into the hanger to welcome their newest resident._

_As Wolf continued to growl, the green Wolf Garfield morphed again but this time into green monkey human type creature. Wolf continued to keep growling at Garfield._

"_Wow did you see me?" Garfield said breaking the stunned silence, not noticing Wolf still wasn't happy with his presence._

"_Huh... guess Wolf doesn't like copycats." Wally finally said breaking the silence. The stupid comment earning him an elbow to the gut from Artemis._

"_What! That is not something you see everyday," Wally countered, "Oh and dude you're naked."_

Coming back to the present, the Green wolf Garfield continued to try and hear what was going on above him.

_YJ_

Up on the bridge Conner was back to sitting on his seat, the only difference being M'gann was now sitting on his lap with her head against his chest asleep. After their makeup they had somehow ended up back in his seat, and both eventually falling asleep in the once familiar comfort of one another. The exhaustion of all the recent events finally catching up to them. Conner had woken up about ten minutes ago, but could not bring himself wake her and break the moment.

Conner stroked a finger across her cheek, which resulted in her snuggling deeper into him. Conner knew despite their recent reconciliation, they still had a long way to go before the trust they once had in one another was back to what it was. He wasn't quite sure how long it would take for them to re-establish the constant mental link they once shared, or if that would ever come.

He just knew after watching Wally sacrifice himself, and how devastated Artemis was at the loss of her boyfriend, that time was a short and precious thing. M'gann had made a mistake allowing the thrall of her own powers blind her to what she was doing, but giving his own history Connor saw how easy it was to fall prey to something like that.

They would be approaching Mars's orbit soon, or at least Conner thought they would be. Coincidentally as Conner wondered how much longer it would take, he saw M'gann eyes flash green for an instant and she began to stir.

Momentarily forgetting where she was, she gave a somewhat embarrassed blush and smiled up Conner.

Deciding to try to break the tension, Conner leaned down and gave M'gann a quick but meaningful peck on the lips. "Hey," Conner said quietly.

"Hey," M'gann said back and stared for a second before adding, "We're about a half hour towards Mars."

Conner nodded remembering that the ship probably informed her, and was why her eyes flashed few seconds ago.

"Probably need to go over our plan for when we get there," Conner said and lifted M'gann off of him and onto a standing position.

"True we really don't know what were getting into," M'gan answered back and held out her hand also helping Conner onto his feet, "B'arzz's message wasn't very detailed."

"We should go get Garfield before we begin," Conner stated while absentmindedly his hand reached out for M'gann's.

M'Gann looked down at their joined hands and back at Conner, "Are we going to tell him?"

Conner shrugged, "Be a good idea. I mean his primary job ever since we broke up was tring to get us back together."

M'gann nodded acknowledging the truth of the statement. Her brother's not so subtle attempts at reuniting her and Conner made her get annoyed at him more than once. Of course no more so then they did L'gann, who Garfield didn't even try hide the fact who he wanted her to be with. Megan thought Garfield's attempts may have been one of the reasons L'gann had tried kiss her so many times in front of Garfield and Superboy, so he could prove a point.

"You don't think telling him will distract him during the mission?" M'gann asked not really sure how to handle the situation.

Down below in the hanger, the wolf Garfield's ears twitched at the mention of his name. As he heard his sister's last statement he immediately began bounding up the ramp, changing into his normal monkey boy form at the last second and somersaulting into the room.

"Not telling me would only just make me try to get you two profess your love during the mission," Garfield said to speechless M'gann and an unsurprised Superboy.

YJ

A/N: A few notes. Some of the information that wasn't shown in the series I got from YJ wiki.

Apparently Garfield's uniform was specifically made for him and morphing abilities, with Mars technology. So I assume he would have been naked the first time transforming since his regular clothes can't morph with him.

The story of Garfield first discovering his powers is my own interpretation, the wiki wasn't too clear on the actual events.

This is probably going to be a slow moving and long story. Personally my favorite stories to read are ones with at least 20,000 words.

Again thank you for the reviews and as you have noticed I will answer questions and concerns in the reviews. You don't like something or if I got something wrong tell me about it, or words of encouragement are good too.


	3. Chapter 3

Superboy cleared his throat, breaking M'gann's still startled look at the still smirking Beastboy. "We should go over the plan before we get to Mars," Conner said authoritatively and sending the message to Garfield that not to give him and M'gann the third degree.

"Right," Megan began uncertainly and motioned for Garfield to take a seat next to where Conner had sat, "All we got from B'arzz's message was that Mars is completely controlled by the Reach..."

"If it took the whole team to boot the Reach off Earth... I mean as crash as we are, there is still only three of us," Garfield said a little apprehensively because on the surface the mission was starting to sound like a suicide mission.

"The Reach never fully took Earth," Conner stated thinking that cleared things up.

Seeing that her brother was still confused Megan elaborated, "According to Hal, the Green Lantern's database on the Reach says that once they take over a world they only leave behind a small force to keep order."

Hearing the new tidbit Garfield put the rest together, "So if the Reach controls Mars, what it really means is they have the population enslaved."

Superboy nodding affirming Beastboy's statement.

"Since we really don't know all the details, this mission has to be covert as long as possible," M'gann said looking at Garfield specifically.

A half smile came over Conner's face as he saw Garfield's face fill with disappointment. He himself still carried those same feelings, but over the years of being out of the pod he had come to realize acting strategically was sometimes better than just charging in.

Getting over his disappointment Garfield had another question and motioned between him and Conner, "We aren't going to have to wear oxygen masks are we?"

M'gann heard the question as she walked back to take control of the ship, "If my people were able to live on the surface yes, but we live below ground where there is an atmosphere for us to breathe."

Garfield was about to ask another question when Superboy spoke. "Since this is covert mission we need to use the coms," Conner stated and dug the three coms out of his pocket and tossed one to each of his team members.

Catching his, Garfield now had a more pressing question than the one he had before. "Why do we need these, can't Megan just link us up with her mind?" Garfield looked over at sister for an answer but it was Conner who spoke up.

"No!" Conner said a little to quickly and loudly, but calmed his emotions, "We're going to be on Mars and so a mental link is more likely to be hacked than our coms."

M'gann who had been staring at her com looked up at Conner as he gave his explanation for use of the devices. It was a lie, but as M'gann made eye contact with Conner she decided not to challenge him. Truthfully she understood Conner's reasons, but she would be lying to herself if she said it didn't hurt to hear him say it.

M'gann cleared her voice to try to sound confident, "Conner's right, it is too big of a risk to use a mental link with so many telepaths around." As she backed up Conner her eyes shifted downward briefly, with a look best described as a mixture between sorrow over what she had lost and shame.

Her expression was not lost on Garfield, but as he looked between his sister's depressed look and the stony expression of Conner, he knew whatever was going on between them wasn't going to be solved by him prodding them about it.

As Garfield turned around to face the front of the ship, he saw that they were about to reach their destination.

Seeing Garfield was transfixed on the sight of the giant red planet; Conner made eye contact with M'gann and gave her a nod with a look of adamance behind his icy blue eyes.

For a fraction of a second M'gann thought his eyes also conveyed a touch of sorrow, but that could have also just been wishful thinking on her part. Deciding now wasn't the time to dwell over what had just happen, M'gann focused on bringing the bio-ship closer to the surface of the planet.

As the ship got a little too close to the surface for Garfield's liking he had another question, "If martians live below the surface, how are we going to get in?"

Maintaining her concentration M'gann answered, "If it was just me, I would just phase through the surface with the ship. Luckily for us Uncle J'onn made entry in case he ever needed to bring anyone here."

"Why would he do that?" Conner asked now slightly curious himself.

"It wasn't his idea actually, Batman told Uncle J'onn it would be a good idea if the League was ever needed on Mars," M'gann said thoughtfully.

"Sounds like Batman," Conner agreed and wondered to himself if Batman had a plan for every scenario.

"So where is it?" Garfield asked, intrigued to where the mysterious hatch into the planet was.

As Garfield asked his question Conner watched the ship glide over the red rocky terrain of Mars. There were large canyons on both sides of the ship, and mountains that were taller than any he had ever seen on Earth. Suddenly, catching Conner slightly off guard, M'gann started to steer the ship upwards as they approached a large plateau.

M'gann concentrated the on the controls and guided the ship to hover about 15 feet above the top of the plateau.

Curious as to why they were stopping Garfield look down at the plateau. Expecting to see an entryway, Garfield was puzzled to see a hard surface of rock below them. For a moment Garfield was a little scared his sister may have forgot that Conner and him could not phase through, morphing was the only ability he got from his blood-sister. Suddenly though, as Garfield continued to watch, the ground started to open up below him.

Looking back quickly at M'gann, Garfield saw a familiar green glow in his sister's eyes. He knew that sometimes Megan had to have intense focus for some of the more taxing uses of her power, which briefly meant a new eye color for his sister.

"Just like the entrance to Mount Justice," Garfield said making an observation. However at the mention of their destroyed home Beastboy saw a look of sadness overcome Conner, but the look was gone as quickly as it appeared.

As the ship started its descent Garfield shifted his attention back to the front of the ship. Looking down all he could he was pure darkness, and started to think how the mission was starting to feel like the many B horror movies he watched... the ones his sister told him not to.

Garfield looked over at Superboy, only to find the Kryptonian held the same unfazed demeanor he always did. Apparently he was alone in his apprehensiveness, and as result started tapping his foot nervously.

Slowly the ship lowered past the point of where the surface used to be, and kept lowering for another ten feet. All of a sudden the ship stopped its descent, and still the only thing to be seen below them was pitch black.

Than without warning, Garfield heard the surface of the plateau slam shut, making an ominous shaking noise all around the ship. Beastboy yelped in terror as his fears were seemingly becoming a reality.

A/N:

Shorter chapter word wise, but I thought it is a fun place to leave off. Wanted to get this chapter up sooner but life sometimes gets in the way.

Before we go any further I would like to let you know that I am a casual DC comics fan, as in I mainly have only seen cartoons and movies. That being said the way I describe martians and the world of mars may not mesh with wast is canonically in the comics. However the series charted there own territory in many aspects from what I have heard.

Lastly I want to ask a question, how do you all feel about original characters. I am not talking like minor roles, but fleshing possible new villains or heroes. I am not looking to go crazy, but I am tossing around a few ideas.

Again thank you for the reviews. The more input I get on what I did right or wrong helps me shape this into a better, more realistic story. I have the plot points pretty much planned out for the rest of mission, and rough ideas going forward after that.


	4. Chapter 4

Simultaneously accompanying Garfield's yelp, the darkness below them started to be replaced with a reddish tinted glow. Garfield looked below the ship and saw another access hatch again open below the ship.

Conner looked over at his younger teammate and raised an eyebrow in amusement.

Realizing what was going on Garfield smiled sheepishly at Conner and rubbed the back of his head, "Sorry."

At that moment M'gann's eyes returned to their normal state and looked sympathetically at her little brother, "I should of warned you." Looking back to the front of the ship, M'gann resumed their descent.

"How far are we from the surface," Conner asked. He never actually asked M'gann how far below the outer surface of Mars did her people live.

"Well our cities are about 30 miles below surface, but we will be landing at 10," M'gann began in an informative voice. "Also our colonies are about 20 miles inward."

"Thats a long hike," Superboy commented out loud.

"40 miles!" Beastboy exclaimed, "Can't we just fly closer in or something?" Again patience was not one of his strong suits, and walking wasn't high on the list either.

"I would but flying the ship too close may draw attention and we don't know where they might have guards patrolling," M'gann explained.

Garfield was about to continue his protests when he felt the familiar sensation of the ship making contact with ground. Immediately Beastboy got up and started to sprint below to the hanger.

Both M'gann and Conner watched as Garfield dashed down the ramp to the hanger, and out of the ship.

Conner and M'gann got up almost at the same time and started to follow the eager Beastboy.

"Still not a fan of enclosed spaces is he," Superboy remarked stopping at the ramp leading below and turned to M'gann.

"Could be a side effect of being able to change into any animal," M'gann mused.

Superboy nodded an agreement and M'gann started to go down the ramp, but Superboy stopped her by gently grabbing her upper arm. "About earlier," Conner began softly, "the coms..."

"I understand... it's fine," M'gann offered but slight tinge of hurt was evident in her voice.

"Thanks," Conner said in low almost apologetic tone and reached and tipped M'gann's chin up to look him in the eyes, "We're just... I am not there yet."

"I know," M'gann agreed sadly.

"Hopefully we'll get there," Conner said quietly and gave M'gann a quick chaste kiss trying to convey that he was trying. Letting her go Superboy continued down the ramp.

M'Gann watched his retreating form disappear at the bottom of the hanger. She could still feel a ghostly trace of where he had held her arm and kissed her.

Taking a moment to reflect on their situation, she thought of how different their relationship was than what it used to be. That they cared enough about each other not to want the other one to find someone else. To be in an relationship together, but yet far from the loving and full of trust one they used to share..

YJ

"_A pinch is not as much as you can grab with your fist," Artemis glared at her boyfriend of a few months._

_Wally just looked at his steamed girlfriend and retorted just as frustrated, "Listen I know what I am doing."_

_Artemis let out a condescending laugh and stared more adamantly as she believed Wally was ruining dinner. She stood in what she thought of as her mad stance, feet set hip width apart, a hand on her hip, and a hand pointing a finger menacingly at the object of her malice. "Know what you're doing!? You eat anything, Kid Garbage Disposal!"_

_Sitting on the couch in front of the television, Conner glanced from the arguing couple back to the television.** "Explain to me why they're together again? More importantly how you talked me into this?" **Conner asked mentally to Megan._

_Megan, who was curled into Conner's side with his hand over her shoulder, didn't break eye contact with the movie playing in front of her. **"That's just how they are," **Megan answered back, **"Robin calls it their foreplay. As to why we are here, this is Wally and Artemis's way of thanking us for being there when Wally met Artemis's mother." **_

_Superboy remembered the occasion of going along to the meet Artemis's mother, another situation he wasn't quite sure how he had gotten into. From what he understood, Artemis had wanted backup because she thought the dinner could turn awkward with just her mother and Wally there. He couldn't honestly say the dinner had been one of the highlights of his life, but talking with Artemis's mother was interesting. While Conner didn't approve of Paula's past career, he did enjoy hearing her explain how she felt freer in her Huntress identity than she did her civilian._

_Conner was aware of the continued argument going on behind them, as Wolf in came in from another part of the cave. Superboy watched the large Wolf's ears perk up as a few higher volumed words echoed from the kitchen but quickly dismissed the disturbance, and then proceeded to jump up on the couch and lay his head down on Megan's lap._

"_**Robin just had to take Zatanna on a ski trip that weekend, then it would be them here and not us," **Superboy continued still not too pleased with the situation._

_Megan looked down and began to rub the giant wolf's head, **"I guess it is a little convenient they went that weekend all of a sudden."**_

"_**Suppose Zatanna knows Robin's secret identity,"** Conner mused and briefly, tuning out the continued commotion behind him._

_Megan looked confused, **"You think so?"**_

_Superboy shrugged, **"Heard Robin say Batman was going along too. Doubt batman would go skiing in a cowl."**_

Megan smiled at the mental image of Batman in full costume skiing down a mountain, although she imagined it would be the cape and not the cowl that would provide more problems. She quietly thought how perceptive Conner really was, and how none of the others really knew that side of him. On the outside her boyfriend was a man of few words and somewhat standoffish, but when it was like this she got to see his true self that he buried away.

Interrupting her musings, Megan heard another disagreement startup in the kitchen.

"Will you stop eating what we are actually managing to get finished," Artemis shrieked in annoyance.

"Can't help it got a fast metabolism... gotta eat,"Wally said between bites of garlic bread.

"**We could sneak out," **Superboy offered in an almost pleading tone.

"**What!" **Megan ask surprised and almost blew their cover by starting to turn toward to her boyfriend, **"We can't just walk out on them."**

"**Sure we can," **Conner continued keeping his eyes on the screen in front of them, **"They're so wrapped up in arguing with each other, they won't notice we left."**

"**We shouldn't..." **Megan started **"Where would we go." **Megan hated to admit it but the idea of sneaking out for a private a date thrilled her. _When they had kept their relationship a secret from the team, it was because they thought their private lives were their own business and also to not have anyone question their motives in the field. However Megan had secretly relished the secret lovers relationship, something that she had loved watching in movies ever since Uncle J'ohnn had started transmitting to Mars._

"**I don't know, get sphere and ride into town and get some pizza from Mario's," **Conner began, **"Then go up to our spot on the mountain overlooking the ocean."**

"**Kind of cold to have a picnic,"** Megan tried to reason. The caring friend part of her would feel bad for ditching their friends. **"And every time we go up there we end up falling asleep looking at the stars."**

"**I"ll keep you warm," **Conner said affectionately and could actually feel Megan's defenses crumble.

Megan bit her lip nervously and was enticed by the thought, **"Okay you win but how do we get out of here without them noticing?"**

Having already thought of that Conner used his super hearing to pinpoint exactly where the two unhappy chefs were. Conner grinned victoriously finding them to have moved to the far back corner to argue more privately.

"**Go," **Conner urged and helped guide Megan up and off the couch. At the movement of Megan, Wolf sneezed unhappily at the loss of the warm lap.

As the couple kept watch on the kitchen, they could not see Artemis or Wally and hurriedly sneaked the rest of the way out of the kitchen.

After a few seconds Wally glanced around the corner of the kitchen cabinets.

"**Are they gone?" **Artemis asked.

"**Yep,"** Wally replied happily.

"**Thought they would never leave," ** Artemis said and pushed Wally up against the oven and kissed him.

"**Told you if we kept yelling at each other they would leave," **Wally said happy with himself that the plan worked.

"**Well we wouldn't have had too if you didn't eat all the ingredients to the pasta," **Artemis retorted playfully mad.

"**Hehe," **Wally chuckled embarrassingly, **"Pizza?**

YJ

Megan let a wistful smile come over her face thinking about the memory, letting it disappear as she followed after Conner and remembering their present circumstances.

Outside the ramp of the ship, Beastboy stood and stretched his arms out, glad to be somewhere he could finally move. He was so caught up in his newfound freedom that he did not notice the very cold temperature in the new environment. Coming down from his euphoria Garfield started to notice as his teeth involuntarily chattered and the fur around his body tensed up.

"Unless you plan on spending the mission as a polar bear," Superboy said coming down the hanger ramp wearing a brown leather jacket and large hiking pack on his back, "You better put this on." Conner than proceeded to toss a red and white winter coat towards Garfield.

Garfield caught the coat and looked at it curiously; wondering what was more out of place, Conner actually making a joke or him having to wear clothing that wasn't apart of his martian attire. Deciding not to call attention to Conner's rare flexing of a funny bone, Garfield put on the jacket. Although Garfield found he rather ask about the large pack on Conner's back.

Seeing where Garfield was staring Conner offered up an explanation, "Long hike and we may have to camp the night before we make our move."

"Yeah but you shouldn't have to carry everything," Megan said catching up to Superboy from out of the ship.

Conner turned to face her, and watched as Megan placed a hand on the ship. Instantly the ship brought up the ramp and faded into the surroundings of the isolated rocky cave. "Super strength," Conner explained brushing off the concern.

Before Megan could put up any more resistance Conner spoke again when he noticed something different about her, "What's with the coat?" Conner had known Megan long and well enough to discern between her bio-organic clothes and the rare moments when she wore regular clothes.

Megan looked down at her black with red trim jacket and looked back at Conner and tried to speak in a normal tone, "I haven't been back here in awhile, my biology has sort of adapted to Earth's climate... it shouldn't take more than a few hours before I won't need it anymore."

"That is so crash!" Garfield exclaimed. He had been fascinated by Martian physiology ever since he gained his powers.

For his part Superboy simply nodded in acceptance, but like old habits he could tell when M'gann was trying to hide the truth. He knew though it was not important to push the subject right now, especially with Garfield around. Good or bad Conner had always tried to make sure Garfield looked up to his blood-sister. Megan was as close to a mother as the young boy had, and Conner didn't want to do anything to diminish that.

"Better get going if we want to be out of this tunnel before we make camp," M'gann said and walked past Conner and Garfield to take the lead.

Garfield fell immediately into step with his sister and started talking about the latest movies that were out and what they should see first. "And since you and Conner seem to be "talking" again, he can go along again too," Garfield kept on excitedly.

"Maybe," Megan replied but her voice betrayed her true emotions.

Conner knew Megan wasn't really listening to Garfield. Maybe she was still thinking about the situation with coms, but he was pretty sure it had to do with something else. Something that probably weighed more heavily on her mind than the mission or their relationship struggles.

A/N

Not exactly where I planned to stop this chapter but it was getting long enough, and I haven't posted in a couple of days. We are approaching the real start of the mission soon, and I have to say I am excited to type it out. Sadly at the earliest next chapter won't be until at least Saturday.

Again thanks for the reviews. If you do review let me know if I handled the Artemis/Wally dynamic well enough. Hope you all are still enjoying the story.


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